Rosie O’Donnell reveals life-saving weight-loss surgery

On Friday revealing her trimmed-down figure secrets, Rosie O’Donnell, comedian and former talk show host said that she underwent vertical gastric sleeve surgery.

During a speaking engagement at the annual Go Red for Women luncheon in Detroit, she admitted that she panicked for her life nearly every day.

“I did it to save my life,” O’Donnell said to the 600-strong crowd from her podium at the American Heart Association charity event.

She went under the surgery procedure in July 2013, after a heart attack in 2012, losing 40 pounds straight away after 2013. She has seen her weight drop from 230 pounds to 190 pounds.

The surgery implicated the exclusion of about 80 percent of the patient’s stomach, creating a sleeve-like organ which resembles a banana.

Rosie stated that she hunted to make some lifestyle transforms, and embark on dieting and exercising, in acquiescence with the instructions given by her doctor.

Despite these changes, O’Donnell was still having complexities in accomplishing her weight loss goal.

“She tried to lose weight on her own but it wasn’t working,” said her spokesperson Cindi Berger, who also noted that the celeb was experiencing high blood pressure, high cholesterol and was pre-diabetic. “It was life saving surgery.”

“But it’s only a tool, not a cure,” Berger added.

The 51-year-old star has been married to executive consultant Michelle Rounds since 2012 and Rosie is mother to five adopted children.